Macron to address France’s Jews amid anti-Semitism concerns

President Emmanuel Macron is set to address France’s leading Jewish group, amid concerns about a rise in anti-Jewish violence and the possible re-publication of anti-Semitic pamphlets by a renowned writer.

Macron will be the guest of honor at tonight’s annual dinner by the group CRIF, whose leaders say they will ask the president about fighting anti-Semitism online and recent attacks on French Jews or Jewish sites.

They also want to call attention to a debate over a plan by prominent publishing house Gallimard to re-publish fiercely anti-Semitic lampoons penned by Louis-Ferdinand Celine in 1937-1941.

Gallimard has suspended the plan for now amid protest. Defenders of freedom of speech say publication should be allowed, in part to show the dark side of the famed writer.

Accomplice of Paris attacks mastermind held in Poland

A Moroccan accomplice of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the deadly 2015 Islamic State attacks in Paris, is being held in Poland over suspected participation in terrorist activity, according to Polish prosecutors.

“During our investigation we found that between December 2014 and September 2016 Mourad T. was involved… with an armed crime organization — an international terrorist organization called Islamic State,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Local media said Mourad T. was detained 18 months ago. If convicted, he faces six months to eight years in prison.

“Relations between Papua New Guinea and the State of Israel are strong, and our Government and the people of PNG appreciate the support and friendship of Israel during these challenging times,” he says according to the report.

Germany extends military missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Mali

Germany is extending six overseas military missions, including its longrunning operation in Afghanistan.

The Cabinet agrees to increase the maximum number of troops deployed as part of the international “Resolute Support” mission by 320 to 1,300.

The German army has its headquarters in Afghanistan in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and a large base near the central city of Kunduz.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert says the number of German troops involved combating the Islamic State group in Iraq will be reduced to 800, but the military training mission will be expanded to include the Iraqi army. Previously training was only provided to Kurdish forces fighting IS.

The Cabinet also extends the German military’s missions in Mali, Darfur, South Sudan and the NATO-led “Sea Guardian” operation in the Mediterranean.

Rocket sirens blare in Gaza periphery

Turkey detains 13 IS militants suspected of plotting attack

Turkey’s state-run news agency says police in the southern city of Adana have detained 13 Islamic State suspects who were allegedly plotting attacks on a number of buildings in the city, including the US Consulate.

Anadolu Agency says police detained the suspects Wednesday in simultaneous dawn raids at homes, using battering rams to break down doors at some locations. The agency said 12 of the suspects are Syrian nationals.

The raids came days after police in the Turkish Black Sea coastal city of Samsun detained four Iraqi IS suspects while investigating a possible plot against the U.S. Embassy in the capital Ankara, forcing the American facility to close.

Turkey suffered a series of deadly terror attacks in 2015 and 2016 carried out by IS or Kurdish rebels.

Palestinians to hold leadership meeting on April 30

The chief Palestinian legislative body will hold its first meeting in nearly a decade next month to elect a new leadership, officials say, a step that could pave the way toward finding a successor to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

According to Ahmad Majdalani, a top Palestinian official, the nearly 700-member Palestine National Council will meet on April 30 in Ramallah.

The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss political issues and to fill positions on the powerful Executive Committee, officials said.

The 18-member committee is the top Palestinian decision-making body. But it is dominated by an aging leadership and it has struggled to function properly in recent years. One member recently died, while at least two others have been weakened by health issues.

Abbas, who turns 83 this month, has never designated a successor, despite suffering from a number of health issues.

Although the meeting is not meant to choose a successor, the composition of the new executive committee could give a strong indication of who the front-runners will be.

Knesset okays law allowing police to hold terrorists’ bodies

The Knesset passes into law legislation allowing police to hold the bodies of Palestinian assailants killed while carrying out terror attacks.

The law, which passed 48-10, came about after the High Court of Justice in December ruled the practice could no longer continue without legislation explicitly permitting it.

Under the law, district police commanders can set limits on funerals or withhold terrorists’ bodies from their families if there is a fear the funeral could be used to carry out an attack or provide a platform for praising terrorism.

The law says terrorists’ funerals in recent years have included praise of terror and incitement for further attacks.

Lebanon court rules trial of suspected Hariri assassin to proceed

Judges at a United Nations-backed tribunal have rejected a request for acquittal by one of four suspects on trial in absentia for their alleged roles in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

In a lengthy decision issued at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, judges said that the case against Hezbollah member Hussein Hassan Oneissi will continue.

Lawyers representing Oneissi called for his acquittal after the presentation of the prosecution’s case, saying his trial should be halted because of insufficient evidence to convict him.

Judges disagreed, saying that the evidence was strong enough for the long-running trial to continue.

Hariri was killed along with 21 others on February 14, 2005, in a massive truck bomb blast in Beirut.

The Population and Immigration Authority announces a general strike for tomorrow and will include the suspension of passport services at all Israeli airports and border crossings.

The State Employees Union warns of massive delays for travelers scheduled to leave Ben Gurion International Airport tomorrow.

The union in a statement calls on Authority officials to return to the negotiating table. Employees launched the job action earlier this month after management decided to transfer workers from various offices to the one in Bnei Brak to service the large number of asylum seekers.

Workers are seeking a collective wage agreement from the Population and Immigration Authority management.

Gazans announce tent city protest along Israeli border

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are launching a tent city protest along the border with Israel next month to demand that Palestinian refugees and their descendants be able to return to what is now Israel, according to Reuters.

One of the organizers, Ahmed Abu Ayesh, says thousands of people will move to tents “at the nearest, safe point from the border.”

He says UN agencies in the Palestinian territory have been notified of the 6-week protest that is slated to begin March 30.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he isn’t seeking elections but that a fresh vote will be held if coalition parties can’t agree on legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox students from military service.

Speaking with reporters en route to New York, Netanyahu says he hopes “to continue with a stable government until the end of its days in November 2019.”

Laying out his conditions for avoiding elections, Netanyahu says any bill on ultra-Orthodox enlistment must be backed by the entire coalition and that all its members agree to remain in the government until the end of its term.

“I want to bring a bill with as wide as possible agreement that will be acceptable to the attorney general and that will pass with a [larger] majority than usual, but also to get a commitment from all the [coalition] partners that we’ll continue together until the end of 2019,” he says.

“[Only] a complete solution is acceptable to me, otherwise we’ll need to have elections. I’m not interested in that,” he adds. “With goodwill it is possible to reach a solution.”

He also calls on coalition parties to back off their respective ultimatums in order for the government to continue.

Mandelblit wants Netanyahu to resign if indicted — report

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit believes that if Netanyahu is indicted on any of the corruption cases against him, he should resign from office, Channel 10 reports.

Under Israeli law, Netanyahu does not have to resign if he is indicted in a criminal case, only if he is convicted. Likud officials have insisted that Netanyahu won’t resign if he is charged with any corruption-related offenses.

The report says that Mandelblit’s stance on Netanyahu is his personal opinion, and not the official stance of the Justice Ministry of law enforcement officials.

Arab League affirms Jerusalem as future Palestinian capital

Arab foreign ministers are insisting that Jerusalem must be the capital of a future Palestinian state, even as the US prepares to move its embassy there in a step that has angered the Arab world.

A ministerial meeting held today in the Egyptian capital Cairo brought together foreign ministers from the Arab League member-states.

Trump in December bucked decades of US foreign policy by formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and setting in motion plans to move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Earlier this month, the US said the move would take place to coincide with Israel’s 70th birthday.

The Palestinians and much of the Arab world have been fuming over Trump’s move. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials have refused to meet with members of the Trump administration since, including Vice President Mike Pence when he visited the region in January.

Netanyahu sought to make an ‘Israeli Fox News’ — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are suspected of trying to set up an Israel-based version of the conservative media outlet Fox News, Hadashot news reports.

The Netanyahus along with former Communications Ministry head Shlomo Filber approached Australian billionaire James Packer, Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and media mogul Rupert Murdoch with the plan, the report said.

They proposed a $25 million buy-in to their potential buyers.

According to Hadashot, Packer supported the idea, Murdoch was on the fence, and Milchan rejected it outright.

Monitor says Syria seizes half of rebel-held eastern Ghouta

A Syria war monitor says that Syrian government troops and allied militias have seized half of the territory held by rebels in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that troops have effectively split the besieged enclave in two halves after seizing the town of Beit Sawa and surround farmland and reaching the outskirts of Madeira and Hammouriyeh.

By slicing the territory in two halves — a southern and northern part — the Syrian government succeeds in further squeezing rebels and tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside.

The Syrian troops are backed in their massive air and ground assault on eastern Ghouta by Russian air cover. Around 400,000 people are believed to be trapped in eastern Ghouta.

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